When Independent Oversight Becomes Optional: A Brewing LAUSD Bond Committee Scandal

“the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction”
“if the law supposes that ... the law is a [sic] ass”

- Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

To say that the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Board has lost credibility with the taxpayers who have financed the District would be an understatement. Over the past few decades, the District has been rocked by numerous financial scandals, including:T

• The purchase of a white-elephant property from a developer who was active in financing school board campaigns.
• The iPad scandal.
• The MiSiS crisis.
• A Superintendent whose wife led a non-profit that had a contract with the LAUSD.

The LAUSD is currently defending itself against a lawsuit claiming that funding it received from PROP-28 was misused. Board Member Kelly Gonez voted to approve a contract with a former employer and then accepted a campaign donation from them. Another Board Member was forced to resign after he pleaded guilty to felony charges related to money laundering.

When the electorate does not trust its elected representatives to properly spend funds received from taxes, they will be reluctant to approve the bond funds needed for construction and other long-term expenses. To help counteract this, California law required the Board to create a Bond Oversight Committee, “an all-volunteer group [that oversees] the expenditure of money for the construction, repair, and modernization of schools by LAUSD…so that school bond funds are invested as the voters intended and that projects are completed wisely and efficiently.”

To ensure the independence of this committee, its members are nominated by outside organizations selected by the Board. Some, like the American Institute of Architects, have professional experience in construction projects. The Mayor of Los Angeles and other government offices nominate members to coordinate with the District’s partners. The stakeholders are represented by nominees from the PTSA.

After receiving the nominations from these organizations, the Superintendent's office investigates to ensure that there are no conflicts of interest. Once cleared, an agenda item is created so that the Board can give its formal approval. This is supposed to be a proforma step, as the rules specified in the Committee’s Charter and Memorandum of Understanding are clear: “The Board shall appoint” members nominated by these organizations. If the Bond Oversight Committee is to maintain its independence, the Board should accept any nominee that has cleared the investigation by the District’s ethics professionals.

35. Appointment of Member to the School Construction Bond Citizens’ Oversight Committee (Tamar Poladian-Perron) (Sup Res-002-25/26)


Resolved, That the Governing Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District appoints Ms. Tamar Poladian-Perron, as the nominee of the Thirty-First District PTSA, as a member to the School Construction Bond Citizens’ Oversight Committee for a two-year term commencing immediately; and the District’s Ethics Office received Ms. Poladian-Perron’s conflict of interest statement certifying, among other things, that Ms. Poladian-Perron is not an employee, official, vendor, contractor, or consultant of the District.

- LAUSD School Board agenda item

With their seat on the Committee vacant, the 31st District PTSA nominated Tamar Poladian-Perron to fill the position. She is an attorney with a long history of public service. This includes being a member of the Glendale Community Police Partnership Advisory Council, the Glendale Police Advisory Council, and the T.C.A. – Arshag Dickranian Armenian School Board of Trustees. She was part of Michael Woo’s staff when he represented the 13th Council District on the Los Angeles City Council. Currently, she is a Los Angeles County Commissioner on the Local Government Services Commission. Poladian-Perron is also the wife of John ‘J.P.’ Perron, the newly announced opponent of Kelly Gonez in Board District 6.

Poladian-Perron cleared her review by the LAUSD ethics office, and her name was placed for approval on the agenda for the Board meeting on October 14, 2025. With no conflict of interest and the nomination of the PTSA, it is an item that should have gone straight to the consent calendar. Instead, Board Member Nick Melvoin pulled it for discussion. It was clear at that point that something was amiss.

During a break in the proceedings, Superintendent Carvalho and Gonez disappeared from the view of the cameras and were not in their seats as the Board was called to order. When they finally returned, at the same time, Carvalho announced that he was pulling the item from the agenda “temporarily.” He and Melvoin then shared a quick laugh.

Almost two weeks later, the Superintendent has not bothered to contact Poladian-Perron to explain why the item was pulled or to set a date when the nomination will be considered by the Board. His office did send an email to the 31st District PTSA informing them that the Ethics Office and Office of the General Counsel were reviewing “an inquiry into a potential conflict of interest.”

While the specifics of the inquiry were not provided, Gonez’s apparent lobbying for the action has led to speculation that it has something to do with the fact that Poladian-Perron’s husband is challenging her in next year’s election. If this is the case, Gonez needs to explain why a wife should be blocked from a position because of her husband’s political choices. What message does this type of misogyny say to every female student in the LAUSD?

Dr. Diane Ravitch has recognized education advocate Carl Petersen as “a valiant fighter for public schools.” A former Green Party candidate for the LAUSD School Board, Petersen is a passionate voice for special education, shaped by raising two daughters with severe autism. He recently relocated to the State of Washington to embrace his role as “Poppy” to two grandsons. Explore more at www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com.